This invention relates generally to enabling the required movement of data with switches, memory and processing power to support aircraft cockpit displays and more particularly, to methods and systems that can be used for displaying moving maps on aircraft cockpit displays.
Airplanes move throughout the world with a variety of electronic connectivity options and availability. Software avionics data loads are a fundamental part of airlines maintenance and operations. The logistics of such data loads are time consuming and require a significant planning effort, touch labor, and an investment in the hardware to carry out the data load. The data entry task is time consuming and provides data to avionics systems after a significant time requirement. Data loading avionics equipment involves securing the necessary paperwork, locating a data loader, locating the data loading media, and then logistically getting them all to airplanes which might have to be updated in a short time period, for example, the Flight Management Computer (FMC) navigational database must be updated at a minimum of every twenty eight days.
Additionally, known FMCs require significant recertification costs when FMC hardware and/or software changes are made. Expanding a memory capability of a current FMC may trigger prohibitive recertification costs.
Currently, a hardware portable data loader and airborne data loader are used in the data loading function, but it requires the airline maintenance personnel to organize getting the data loader and media to the airplane. This is a highly manual process which is difficult to accomplish during the short turnaround times often demanded by commercial airplanes operations.